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| Thursday, September 30, 2004 |
| The Bush Kerry US presidential debate analysis |
I woke up early this morning to watch the US presidential debate. It was at 6:30 AM in the morning in India - thats 9 PM in the US.
For both the candidates, much was riding on this debate. By evening today, I hope to fill up this page I have already created about the debate with proper material http://www.dancewithshadows.com/bush_kerry_debate_analysis.asp
Right now this is not a live article, but check it anyway because I am gathering the data right now.
Pre-presidential debate 2004, the accusations against both the candiate were thus:
About George W Bush:
The man hs been less than candid about his true reasons for invading Iraq. People suspect an anti-muslim agenda, prejudices.. And they suspect he has not been telling them the truth about the war in Iraq and the war on terrror. The presidential debate was supposed to be his chance to come clean and convince his people.
About John Kerry:
Waffler. May have apoint, but flip flops, trying to be on the good side of everyone. The debate was his chance to prove that he was consistent, and Bush was not leadership material.
What I think after watching the debate about the presidential debate of a country which I am neither a citizen of, not live in is this. Both Bush and Kerry came across as confident people who knew what they were taking about. However, very often, Bush had to revert back to his talking points such as Kerry's mixed messages (repeated 20 times?), my beliefs (lots many times) consistency... Kerry did a good job of not appearing a waffler. It was like, Bush was letting the charges against Bush loose, but they weren't flying! At least during the debate, Kerry hardly appeared inconsistent. He definitely had a grip on the details.
Bush occasionally looked bewildered, only to repeat what he had said earlier.
Sorry Bush, at least during this first debate, Kerry came across as the smarter, to tthe point, stronger character. Bush was there right behind him, but not enough to show Kerry in a bad light. My analysis of the debate - the more debates there are, the better for Kerry.
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| posted by a correspondent @ 8:06 PM |
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| thanks ~* mErCuRiAn *~ |
Thanks ~* mErCuRiAn *~ for the nice article.
hi Mathew, sent a story on cheap broadband from PSUs pls take a look
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| posted by JM @ 2:37 PM |
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| Wednesday, September 29, 2004 |
| New updates on site |
Three articles published. See them under Latest updates on homepage.
They are a small car buying tips piece from Mercurian, profile of a child artist from Harpreet and an exhortation to women to rise and shine from Preeti.
Cheers
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| posted by a correspondent @ 9:43 PM |
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| Tuesday, September 28, 2004 |
| sai blog |
| have just taught sai blogging with google's blog this button |
| posted by JM @ 5:07 AM |
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| Shopping for a small car |
JM,
A story with the above title is coming your way :) Mathew will be sending it to you shortly. Do have a look.
~* mErCuRiAn *~
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| posted by mErCuRiAn @ 4:37 AM |
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| Monday, September 27, 2004 |
| site progress |
| site has encouraging statistics to boast: 200 to 500-600 in less than 3 months. At this rate we should touch 1000 in less than another 3 months. we should have a daily-updated progress graph somewhere, with the graph climbing steadily! just to keep spirits from flagging!! he he |
| posted by JM @ 11:57 PM |
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| 2 more want to write for us! |
| Yesterday received mails from two visitors who said we were a good site, liked its looks etc and said they were willing to write for us. Thanked them profusely. Now waiting for article :) |
| posted by a correspondent @ 5:29 AM |
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| hyosung comet |
| Kinetic launching Hyosung Comet 250. bike looks smart. worth an article |
| posted by JM @ 4:46 AM |
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| 9/11 and Beslan, Russia - interesting article |
http://www.countercurrents.org/us-lauria240904.htm
Came across this article on a leftie website . I generally dislike leftie websites which call for a revolution, and still rants about imperialist designs without having an alternative in their pocket. However, the Left is important, because in a world full of American propaganda and consumerism (not to mention a lack of interest in details of anything) the Left often manages to bring up a sensible point of view.
Countercurrents generally specialises in preaching against America. However, they do this by extracting articles from other websites that suit their ideology. This article examines the 9/11 attach, and the Chechen attack in Russia on school children. Good attempt by the author to expose the US' double standards.
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| posted by a correspondent @ 3:40 AM |
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| Sunday, September 26, 2004 |
| Zoom TV from Times Group - second impressions |
English programmes seem to be sourced from E!, the entertainment channel. Lots of body, booze, glamour and sleaze here. But then that's E!
The E! logo is hidden/ blanked out, but then it appears behind some anchors on a lit wall etc sometimes, so we know its E!
The Hindi portions - very similar to music channels. In fact, I caught the same song on Zoom and MTV at the same time.
A program in which young girls were asked to sing love songs to gain the approval of some guy (a singer?) sucked. Because one girl looked 12-15 years of age, and the guy looked 25-30. The format is not new, I have seen it on old MTV shows, but at least they were all boys and girls - not teens and adults like here.
Disclaimer: Second impressions are only lightly better than first impressions; like tea with sugar is better than tea without. But still not Taj Mahal tea!
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| posted by a correspondent @ 10:55 AM |
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| Post for Preeti, by Preeti! |
Hi all.
This is a post by Preeti by the Blog manager - test post.
You all who are not members yet will soon receive a mail with a username and password for this blog. Once you receive it, you can use it to contribute posts such as this one.
To do it, you will have to log in to www.blogger.com using that username and password. Once you log in, you will be taken to a screen with a CREATE A NEW POST button. Click on it, and you can post in this blog with abandon.
And Preeti, when you get your username and password, make sure you delete this test post too! You can delete it from the same screen which you get when you log in to blogger.com
Bye...
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| posted by PREETI @ 9:32 AM |
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| Simple blogging |
This could be the answer to JM's prayers.
IN the Google Toolbar, in Options, there is an item called BlogThis. Once you select that, a small B buton appears on your google toolbar. Just click it, a pop-up window will open. Delete the junk that appears there, and start typing. Simble!! |
| posted by a correspondent @ 4:54 AM |
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| Hooligan festivals article |
The 'Hooli aaya re' story http://www.dancewithshadows.com/hooligan_festivals.asp has provoked, at least some friends, to respond.
Parul, now in Netherlands, wrote to me saying that street festivals are common in all countries and cultures. Originally religious or cultural, they were all converted to an excuse to party, says Parul. On the side, they are also good for the economy!
I frankly don't know much about such festivals abroad. I remember one instance of Peurto Rican anniversary or something like that in US that went out of hand and some 60 plus women were molested, stripped, and there was a report of even one rape.
Vikas, my friend in Delhi too feels that we should not generalise because of some bad experiences.
My take - (maybe not the articles author's) - is that these are originally rural festivals which have not gently transformed into urban melas. Holi, for example, in a village setting is noce and funny and hilarious. That is because you all kow each other there. Diwali is great with kids bursting crackers and having a whale of a time. In metros, especially Mumbai, they assume the role of one big hungama where there are no rules, no concern for others.. See, it really is not possible at all. Where in a city can one burst crackers safely? You know that rockets and flares are to be lit in high places with no residences, but where can you find a place like that? Cities are full of individuals with differing ideas of privacy, safety, space... Community frolicking will always be a tense, dangerous affair here.
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| posted by a correspondent @ 4:49 AM |
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| Friday, September 24, 2004 |
| Communists in India |
Just uploaded this article 'Indian communists are frogs in a well' to the site homepage. The article is here http://www.dancewithshadows.com/indian_communists.asp
The article is not deeply researched or anything, but we felt it had to be there anyway. Communists in India always deserve a whack. Coming from a communist-ruled land such as Kerala, I know very well that there are many good things about communist attitudes (though much less about communism).
It was shoddily implemented alright, but the land reforms in kerala wouldn't have happened but for the communists. Even then, the landed gentry and the church in Kerala ultimately managed to bring them down with a political agitation.
The truh is that communists have changed Kerala so much that your average Malayalee is a communist in attitude and beliefs, though he may hate the party. That way, every party in Kerala is communism - lite.
Some quick examples - even the watchman or sweeper in Kerala does not think that just because you are rich, you are better than him. Expect no respect for riches.
The sense of social justice is strong - compared to the rest of India.
Everyone has an opinion, and everyone is ready to protest anything that makes them do more work. It is seen as an attack on the rights of the labour force!
You support Saddam Hussein, even though his attack on Kuwait was the one which affected Malayalees badly, and many gulf workers in Kuwait had to flee the country. Stories of Iraqi soldiers molesting Malayalee girls did the circles, but the Malayalee still supported Saddam as he was attacked by 'imperialist forces', and one should always resist imperialist forces!
One day we will carry a profile on V S Achuthanandan
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| posted by a correspondent @ 10:58 AM |
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